Jasmine Aimaq's debut novel The Opium Prince is an engrossing narrative that depicts the intricacies and entanglements of political struggles in late-1970s Afghanistan. The novel's central character is Daniel Abdullah Sajadi, the newly appointed director of the United States Against the Drug Economy (USADE), an agency tasked with combating the cultivation of opium in Afghanistan. Daniel, the son of an American mother and a late Afghan war hero, embodies the tensions between Afghan politics and US interests that frame the book.

The story opens with Daniel driving from Kabul to Herat for an anniversary getaway with his American wife Rebecca. Their plans are quickly derailed when Daniel hits and fatally injures a young girl named Telaya. This incident sparks a series of events during which Daniel becomes embroiled in battles for power as he is haunted by his role in Telaya's death, an ...